>> this morning the voice of is elmo is taking some time off from sesame street.reports, as terrell brown reports, the a character's puppeteer is fighting allegations of a sexual relationship with an underage boy. >> reporter: to millions of young children, elmo is iconic. the fuz kevin clash is the man behind the fuzzy red puppet. a and according to this documentary, turned elmo into a cultural phenomenon. >> i knew elmo should represent kis love, just kissing and hugging.52 >> reporter: clash 52 is h accused of having sex with a 16-year-old boy. his accuser, now 23 told sesameet's" pro street's producers in june that beg they began having a relationship seven years ago. in a statement, sesame workshop said we conducted a thorough c investigation and found the allegation of underage conduct ge con to be unsubstantiated. our investigation did reveal that kevin exercised poor judgment and violated company policy regarding internet usage s and he was disciplined. clash has taken a break from an sesame street so he could defend himself from what we calls false and defamatory accusations. i a